Stone by Stone

Long, long ago, in a dry, rocky valley between the mountains, in the place we now call Makkah, there was a well of water called Zamzam. And near that well lived Prophet Isma'il عليه السلام.

When Isma'il was a tiny baby, his father, Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام, brought him and his mother Hajar to that valley. Ibrahim left them there because Allah had told him to. Hajar trusted that Allah would look after them, and He did. An angel even told her something wonderful: one day, this little boy and his father would build the House of Allah.

Now Isma'il was a grown man. His father did not live in Makkah, but he came to visit his family there from time to time.

One day, Ibrahim came again. He found Isma'il under a tree near Zamzam, sharpening his arrows. Scrape, scrape, went the arrows.

When Isma'il saw his father, he stood up to welcome him. Then they greeted each other, the way a father greets his son, and a son greets his father.

"O Isma'il," said Ibrahim. "Allah has given me an order."

"Do what your Lord has ordered you to do," said Isma'il.

"Will you help me?" asked Ibrahim.

"I will help you," said Isma'il.

Ibrahim pointed to a small hill, a little higher than the land around it. "Allah has ordered me to build a house here."

It would not be a house for living in, with beds and cooking pots. It would be a House for worshipping Allah, a place where people would come to pray.

So father and son set to work.

Isma'il brought a stone, and Ibrahim built it into the wall. Isma'il brought another stone, and Ibrahim set it in its place. Clack, went the stones, one on top of another. Stone by stone, the walls began to rise.

Up and up the walls went, higher and higher. Ibrahim was an old man now, and at last he could no longer lift the stones up that high.

So Isma'il brought a stone and put it down for his father to stand on. Ibrahim stood on it and carried on building, while Isma'il handed him the stones, one by one.

And as they worked, father and son said a dua together:

"Our Lord, accept this from us. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

In Arabic, it begins with three short words: Rabbana taqabbal minna.

When we ask Allah to accept a good deed, we are asking Him to be pleased with it. Ibrahim and Isma'il were doing something so good, and doing it for Allah, and still they asked Him to accept it.

They kept on building, working their way all around the House, saying their dua again and again: "Our Lord, accept this from us."

That House is the Ka'bah. It still stands in Makkah today, in that very same place. Every day, Muslims all over the world turn to face it when they pray. Perhaps you do too.

And there, long ago, its walls were raised, stone by stone, by a father who asked, "Will you help me?" and a son who answered, "I will help you."

Tomorrow, if Mum or Dad asks for your help, you will know just what to say.

But now it is time to rest. Close your eyes and picture that quiet valley: the stones passing from hand to hand, one by one, and a father and son saying together, "Our Lord, accept this from us."